FIRE Press Release Scores Federal Speech Code Standards

May 10, 2013

Never, never, think that it can’t get any worse. If you thought you’d seen the limits, you haven’t. Read this press release from FIRE and then hope that you’ll wake up. Except that you won’t: apparently the U.S. Department of Justice actually likes the outrageous sexual harassment guidelines of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and has now applied them uniformly to higher educational institutions nationwide.

Please don’t ask what’s next, because something else is no doubt in the pipeline, all in the name of making American college campuses safe, hospitable, welcoming etc. The only thing that isn’t welcome, apparently, is the U.S. Constitution. It wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t include that annoying First Amendment, I guess.

Kudos to FIRE as always: we never run out of reasons to be grateful for them. But don’t think for a minute that this isn’t your fight as well.